Senior Alex Foster led five double-figure scorers with 22 points and the No. 7-ranked Emory men's basketball team used a strong second half showing in posting a victory over Bates College Monday evening in an opening-round game of the Emory Holiday Basketball Tournament at the Woodruff PE Center.  The Eagles won their fourth straight and raised their overall record to 8-1 following an 84-65 decision over the Bobcats who suffered their first defeat in eight outings.

Foster scored 16 of his 22 points over the final 20 minutes of play, helping spark Emory to a 50-36 scoring advantage.  Foster closed out the contest, sinking eight-of-11 from the floor, including four triples in seven attempts, and a pair of free throws.  Foster has scored in double figures in all nine Eagle games and has produced seven performances of 20 or more points.   Senior Josh Schattie totaled 13 points, his second-highest output of the year, and added six rebounds, while junior Davis Rao chipped in 12 points.  Sophomore Jonathan Terry and junior Will Trawick closed out the double-figure scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively, with Trawick snaring a game-high eight rebounds.  Senior Michael Florin tied his personal best with 11 assists, also tying the sixth-highest individual game total in school history.|

With the game deadlocked at 37-37 early in the second half, the Eagles went on a 14-2 charge, with Foster, Rao and Terry all connecting on treys and Schattie coming through with a three-point play in that stretch, to claim a 51-39 advantage with 14:18 remaining.   Bates scrapped back to within six points following a bucket by Graham Stafford, who led all players with 23 points, with 12:48 remaining.  However, Emory regained control of the contest with a 13-0 blitz over a 2:30 span, keyed by three triples by Foster, to extend its cushion to 66-47.  The closest the Bobcats would get from that point would be 12 points with 6:55 on the clock.   A three-point play by sophomore Austin DaGue capped a 12-4 Eagle spurt that gave them their largest lead of the game, 84-64, with 1:30 on the clock.

Emory concluded the game shooting 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the field compared to Bates' effort of 43.1 percent (25-of-58).  The Eagles knocked down 10 three pointers in 29 opportunities (34.5%), their sixth game of the year in double figures, while the Bobcats were successful on six-of-24 from long range.

Emory will meet Union College (6-2) in the finals of the Holiday Tournament on Tuesday starting at 4:00 pm.  The Dutchmen edged Birmingham Southern College by an 84-81 count earlier in the day.   Birmingham Southern and Bates will square off in the consolation game at 2:00 pm.